Sochi Games Preparations In Full Swing As Torch Ceremony Moves Closer

Preparations in Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics "are in full swing" less than six months before the start of the Games, according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. The host nation is "bracing for the torch-lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia, Greece, next month." Organizers "are rushing to complete the venues" for the first Winter Games to be held in Russia. The symbolic start of the Games run-up will begin Sept. 29 with the torch lighting at the site of the ancient Olympic Games in Greece. Games Organizing Committee CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko said, "The preparations are going well and everybody is working incredibly hard to make sure that we reach all of our targets. We have received brilliant feedback at every stage." The Olympic flame "will cover some 65,000 kilometres across Russia and will visit more than 2,900 towns and settlements, carried by more than 14,000 bearers" (REUTERS, 8/21). Turkey Economic Minister Zafer Çağlayan announced Turkey’s construction industry had obtained 154 int'l projects worth $14B so far this year, strengthening Istanbul 2020’s credentials to deliver the infrastructure required for the 2020 Olympics (SPORTS FEATURES, 8/21).